Sixthly: It may be said that the value of a commodity must be proportioned to its supply compared with the number of its producers. This appears, indeed, to be strikingly the case in the early periods of society when many commodities are obtained, almost exclusively, by labour. If fruits are to be procured, or game killed or caught, by labour alone, or assisted only by capital of very little value, the quantity obtained, on an average, by a day’s labour must represent, with a great approach to accuracy, the degree of scarcity in which commodities exist compared with the producers of them working for a certain time. But the degree in which the supply of a commodity is limited, as compared with the numbers, powers, and wants of those who wish to obtain it, is the foundation of all value. Here the producers are both the effectual demanders and the consumers; and the produce obtained on an average by a single producer must represent the supply compared with the numbers, powers, and wants of the demanders. If a large quantity of produce be obtained by a producer, the commodity will be in abundance, and will be considered as of comparatively little value; if a small quantity be obtained by a producer, the commodity will be scarce, and will be considered as of comparatively great value. If it be the custom of the country for the producers to work only four hours a-day instead of ten or twelve, the commodities produced will bear a comparatively small proportion to the numbers of the producers and effectual demanders, and will consequently be of much higher value, than in those countries where it is the custom to work for the greater number of hours; and, on the other hand, if the producers, besides working ten or twelve hours a-day, are aided by ingenious instruments and great skill in the use of them, the commodities produced will be in unusual plenty compared with the producers, and will be considered as proportionally of low value. In all these cases the value of the commodity is evidently determined by the relation between its quantity and the number of its producers.